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(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

S. ORIGHTON. MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING PIBROUS MATERIALS. N0. 440

Patented Nov. 11, 1890. Fig i.

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Witnesses; 62 1 GZQzmad fMHHH, mfima id'huw (No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2 S. ORIGHTON. MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING FIBROUS MATERIALS. No. 440,221. Patented Nov. 11, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SPENCER CRIGHTON, OF MANCHESTER, ENGLAND.

MACHINE FOR OPENING AND CLEANING FIBROUS MATERIALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,221, dated November 11, 1890. Application filed Se tember 30, 1889. Serial No. 325,524. (No model.) Patented in England November 11, 1885, No.13,715-

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SPENCER CRIGHTON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Manchester, county of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Opening and Cleaning Fibrous Materials, (for which I have received Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 13,715, dated November 11, 1885;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the machinery employed in the opening and cleaning of cotton and other fibrous materials, and particularly to the class of machines having revolving beaters and provided with grids or gratings and used alone or in combination with other apparatus. In some cases the said beaters revolve upon vertical axes-as, for example, in the cases of the machines now well known in England as Orightons openers, (illustrated inBritish Patent No.1,0l5 of 1871,)the fibrous materi.l-say, for example, cottonbeing conveyed in an upward direction by the action of the boaters and by the upward current of air induced by such action. In such machines the object is to drive the dirt through the grid with as little loss of useful fiber as possible.

Previously to my invention the passages for the escape of dirt through the grids have extended from front to back of the grids-that is to say, from the inside to the outside thereof-in directions which have been tangential to some part of the beater or to the path of motion of the cotton when revolving around the beater-axis. In other words, the grid has been provided with openings in the natural direction pursued by particles flying tangentially from the beater under the centrifugal influence of its rotation, such direc tions being indicated by the dotted arrows in Fig. 12, hereinafter described.

The object of my invention is to retard the escape of useful fibers while permitting foreign matters to be discharged. To this end I deflect the passages through the casing surrounding the beater downward or upward, or both downward and upward or sidewisethese deflected passages may be used for a part or for parts of the grid in conjunction with the ordinary passages, or may be used throughout the grid, and in some cases or 1n all cases in the grid-dish or otherwise in any position or to any extent found to be suitable.

In certain constructions embodying my in-- vention these deflected passages may also be described as opening or extending in directions across the planes of revolution of the beater and in directions more or less nearly parallel with its axis. Examples of such construction are shown in Figs. 1 and 3 and at the left of Fig. 8, where it will be observed that the shells c extend in directions transverse to or across the planes of revolution of the heaters and the months 0 open in the same direction.

My invention is also applicable in the construction of openers or fiber-cleaning apparatus having boaters revolving on horizontal axes or on axes which are not vertical.

In Sheet 1 of the annexed drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical section of an opener with a vertical axis of the well-known Crighton type, constructed, in so far as the grids are concerned, in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section, Fig. 3 a back view, and Fig. 4 a cross-section, of one of the grids. The views on Sheet 2, Figs. 8, 9, and 10, illustrate the application of my invention in the construction of an opener, having the heaters revolving upon a horizontal axis. Fig. 11 is a sectional view of a portion of a grid, illustrating how the passages may be deflected by being bent or curved backward relative to the motion of the beater and away from a line which would be a tangent to the course taken by the cotton. Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating whatI mean by the well-known tangential openings.

In Fig. 1, a a are the ordinary revolving beaters, which are carried by the vertical shaft 1), and c c are the grids, which are arranged around the beater-axis so as to form a cage in which the fibrous material-say, for example, cotton-is'operated upon. At the t lower end of this cage is the part d, which is ings, the grids c are represented only in section in Fig. 1; but a back view of one of the grids appears at Fig. 3.

In the machine as ordinarily constructed the dirt consisting of particles of foreign matter disengaged from the cotton is driven outward by the centrifugal action of the heaters and escapes through the openings in the grids in a direction which is tangential (see the dotted arrows in Fig. 12) to the heaters or thereabout, as hereinhefore mentioned. As the cotton is driven against the grids by the blows of the heaters there is a tendency for some of the cotton to pass out with the dirt, this tendency being restrained to a greater or less extent by the inflowing air, which passes through the apertures in the grids.

In my improved grids the backs of the openings are closed or shielded by means of curved shells 0, so that each slot or opening becomes a groove, as indicated in Fig. 4, which represents across-section taken on the lineA B in Fig. 3. Each of these grooves opens out at the back of the grid, so as to form a mouth 0 for the escape of dirt from the opener. In the example these months are about horizontal; but this formation may be varied, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6. In Fig. 5 the lower end of one back shell does not extend quite so far as the upper end of the next lower back shell, the discharge of matters being facilitated as compared with the formation shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 6 the hacks overlap a little, whereby the discharge of matters is checked to a greater extent. I may use any or .all of these formations in an opener, so as to regulate the action at different parts of the opener. I also obtain such regulation by gradually increasing the sizes of the outlets or months from the top toward the bottom, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3. With the same object I may also otherwise vary the formation of the back shells c. When the opener is at work, the cotton passes in an upward direction, as is usual; but owing to the formation of the grids any matters driven out of the cage are compelled to pass in a downward direction, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. As the said matters can only leave the cage by being deflected from the course taken by the main body of cotton passing through the machine-that is to say, by being deflected from a spirally-upward-tending course into a downward direction-the passage of the light fibers of cotton is greatly checked, so that the production of waste is much lessened. By increasing or decreasing the facilities for the exit of matters according to the indications given in Figs. 5 and 6 the quantities of matters removed from the cotton may be increased or decreased, as may be desired.

I may so shape the back shells that they shall check but not entirely prevent the direct escape of dirt. Fig. 7 illustrates such a formation. In this example each hack shell is slotted or otherwise, and the said shell is in two parts, which do not quite meet, so that a portion of the dirt can escape more directly than in the case of the grid first described,

the passagefor the main body of air and dirt opening downward, as in the case of the grid illustrated by Figs. 2 and 3.

The dish d, ordinarily cast in one piece, is usually formed without outlets for dirt. According to my invention I provide this dish with shielded or downward directed outlets d d.

In Sheet 2, Fig. 8 represents a vertical sec-' tion of the cage of an opener of a formation suitable for use in connection with heaters revolving upon a horizontal axis. For such an application the regular formation of the grid, which is represented in Fig. 1, is not suitable, owing to the fact that the cotton. moves in an upward direction on one side of the axis and in a downward direction on the other, as indicated by the arrows. In order that the outlets for dirt may be deflected from the course taken by the cotton, I so form the said outlets on the two sides of the opener as that on the one side the outlets are deflected sidewise in the manner indi cated in Fig. 9, while on the other side the said outlets are deflected downward, as indicated in Fig.10, so as to be opposite to the said tangents to the paths of the heater and of the cotton.

Fig. 9 represents an outside view of a portion of the grid extending on the left hand of Fig. 8 from c to f, Fig. 10 being a corresponding view of the part extending on the right hand from g to f. In the left-hand portion the outlet-passages are deflected sidewise--that is to say, in a direction at about right angles to the course taken by the cot ton. In the right-hand portion the dirt is ejected in a direction about opposite to the direction of movement of the cotton. A por tion of the top of the cage is not provided with openings. In some cases a larger portion of the circumference of the cage may be free from openings, especially in the cases wherein my invention may be adapted to scutching-machines. In cases wherein the grid portion would be less than half the circumference of the cage it would not be necessary to adopt both of the formations indicated in Figs. 9 and 10, with reference also to Fig. 8.

I do not confine myself to the closing of the backs of the outlet-passages by means of the shells c, as the necessary deflections might be obtained by bending or curving the passages away from the line, which would be a tangent to the course taken by the cotton. Such a formation is indicated by Fig. 11, in which the outer walls 19 of said passages serve like the shells c as shields to close the passages on lines radial from the beater.

I claim as my invention 1. A casing for machines for opening, and cleaning textile materials, having outlet-passages for dirt open in directions across the planes of revolution of the beater'and closed in directions radial from its axis, substantially as set forth.

2. A casing for opening and cleaning machinery, having outlet-passages for dirt, said passages being in directions away or deflected from lines tangential to the course of such materials around the beater-axis, and shields inclosing said openings, substantially as set forth.

3. A casing having or formed with shields 2o 0' inclosing recesses which extend downwardly and terminate in outlets 0 in combi nation with a beater mounted on a vertical axis, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my 25 

